Check Out These Steamy New Portraits of Miley Cyrus by Marilyn Minter

On April 14, musician Miley Cyrus unveiled a couple of new portraits of herself taken by artist Marilyn Minter. The occasion was Planned Parenthood‘s annual spring luncheon at New York’s Pierre Hotel where Minter was given the organization’s Woman of Valor award.

Though Cyrus couldn’t attend the event in person, she introduced Minter in a speech she prerecorded in bed using a smartphone.

The portrait is part of a new project between the two women, which Cyrus dubbed the M&M collaboration. During a recent visit to Minter’s studio, the artist shot several photos of Cyrus, one of which will be sold as a $5,500 limited-edition print.

The artwork will “hopefully make some big bucks for Planned Parenthood,” said Cyrus. “Thank you guys so much for all that you do, and fuck yeah!” she concluded, before Minter took the stage.

“This is a really vital time, I think. I want Planned Parenthood to start coming out of the closet, and I want to take our cues and inspiration from the marriage-equality movement,” said Minter during her speech.

Minter, who first went to Planned Parenthood as a young woman when her doctor refused to prescribe her birth control because she was unmarried, organized a Sotheby’s fundraising auction with Cindy Sherman and Laurie Simmons in May 2015. The event raised $2.3 million for Planned Parenthood, which soon plans to offer anti-HIV medicine PrEP and hormone therapy for the transgendered.

“I’m so proud of the art world. They’re pretty fearless,” the artist told artnet News. “I love that all those boys stepped up for us,” Minter added, praising Richard Prince, Richard Serra, and the auction’s other male participants. “They all have wives and daughters; they’re feminists!”

At the luncheon, artnet News was seated with artist Deborah Kass and Performa‘s Roselee Goldberg. Kass, who donated a work to the recent sale at Sotheby’s, recalled helping organize a similar auction in support of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) back in 1989. Inspired by successful efforts to support AIDS research, the sale raised $1.5 million.

Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, owner of New York’s Salon 94 gallery, likened the ability of artists to raise money and awareness for women’s reproductive health to a “superpower,” telling artnet News that “it’s an absurd idea that women to not have ownership of their bodies. It goes so much deeper into the rights of women, and we have to fight for it.”

Actress and director Rose McGowan was also vocal in her support of the organization. “I think art is meant to be subversive and meant to challenge the status quo,” she said to artnet News. “If the status quo is vilifying women constantly, it’s time to push back in every avenue possible.”

Marilyn Minter, Miley Hearts Planned Parenthood (2016). This image will be available on a Marc Jacobs t-shirt.Photo: courtesy Planned Parenthood.

A dedicated art collector, McGowan is now thinking about getting a work by Minter. “She’s so punk, I love her,” she added.

Planned Parenthood presented Minter with a hot pink plaque, emblazoned with the phrase “Don’t fuck with us, don’t fuck without us,” which the artist has printed on pink, blue, and white buttons branded with the organization logo.

Minter is quick to disclaim the credit for the catchphrase: “I found it on the Internet,” and was inspired to produce the pins herself, she admitted. “I’ve been giving them out to people to people on the subway who say to me ‘wow, great button.'”

Marilyn Minter produced these buttons to support Planned Parenthood. Photo: courtesy Shoot the Lobster.

They are now for sale at Shoot the Lobster, and all proceeds are going to Planned Parenthood. In addition to the large-scale art print, Minter has revealed a second photo of Cyrus, provocatively licking a window pane, which will be sold on Marc Jacobs t-shirts for both men and women, priced at $50.

“She’s a delight,” said Minter of working with the pop star. “She’s a powerful, smart young lady and very very talented.”

The print and the t-shirt are just the first works from the M&M collaboration to be revealed. Some of the photos, Minter shared, feature Cyrus wearing props featuring the Planned Parenthood logo that the two women worked on together. (Cyrus has made something of a name for herselfas a sculptor with assemblage works created from stuffed animals and other kitschy items tossed on stage by fans during her concerts.)

“I don’t want to spoil it,” said Minter, who was hesitant to reveal too many details about what else the newly-formed duo have in store. “We’ve got lots of surprises for ya. They’re coming!”